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From underclass to Homo sovieticus. Human constraints towards modernization

Authors :: Wojciech Wozniak
Katedra Socjologii Ogólnej, Wydział Ekonomiczno-Socjologiczny, Uniwersytet Łódzki
Wojciech Woźniak holds a PhD in sociology. He works as an assistant professor at the Department of General Sociology at the Faculty of Economics and Sociology, University of Łódź. His research interests cover: social inequalities, analysis of public discourse concerning social issues, moral panics, Finnish socio-economic model and sociology of sport. He has authored a book titled: Social inequalities in Polish political discourse in Poland released in 2012 by Scholar Scientiic Press and more than 40 papers or book chapters published in scientiic journals or collections.
Source :: Praktyka Teoretyczna, Vol 13, Iss 3, Pp 171-199 (2014), BASE-Bielefeld Academic Search Engine
Publication Year :: 2014
Publisher :: Adam Mickiewicz University, 2014.
Abstract: Praktyka Teoretyczna nr 3 (13) This article aims to present the discursive processes that were used to justify the path chosen to implement the social and economic transformation to capitalism in Poland. Special attention is paid to the role of elites in shaping a public discourse which legitimized the signiicant pauperization in society and growth of income inequalities as being conditioned on individual defects and the “civilizational incompetence” of those at the bottom of the social structure. hese citizens of Poland were presented as a constraint and obstacle to achieving a faster pace of modernization processes. his has inluenced the thinking of politicians involved in policy-making at the national level, as well as the attitudes of those involved in the implementation of welfare measures at the local level. Furthermore, it has contributed to the unspoken consensus of all mainstream political parties over the neoliberal reforms in the economy and social policy.